Just Because It's Right Doesn't Mean It's Easy
by MBP
Summary: Sirius mentions to Harry that he ran away from home at 16 and stayed at the Potters because he was always welcome there. But for a 16 year old, that's not an easy decision to make. How was this time, really, for Sirius and, by default, James?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Is there anyone who doesn't know that… J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. I do not.

The house itself seemed to shake as he slammed the door behind him. He refused to even look back, though. He hoped it would fall to the ground in ruins. He was never going back there. Never. He'd never belonged there, and now he knew for sure that he never would. Unfortunately, though, he couldn't apparate to James's house. One more year, and he'd be able to, but for now, he was still on holiday from Hogwarts, and he was also still 16. Muggle transportation it would have to be.

As Sirius sat on the underground and watched the stops rattle by, he surreptitiously felt for his wand in his back pocket. Once sure it was there, he stared straight ahead at his reflection in the window. The people sitting across from him were trying not to look at him too curiously, but he knew they'd been staring. He didn't exactly blame them. He looked a sight, for sure, with his hair in disarray and his rattiest clothes. He'd worn them to anger his mother although she clearly thought his clothes were the least of her problems. Running away really was the only option. She would never understand. His lips twisted in a wry smile when he thought of what her reaction would be when she found out he was staying at the Potters. She'd never known what to make of them… pure bloods who DIDN'T side with the "Dark Lord," as she liked to call him.

By the time he got to a stop close enough to James's house, he was half asleep and had to shake himself awake. Climbing up the steps into the fresher air, he felt once more for his wand and then trudged the well-known path to James's house. He wished he'd been quick enough to grab the floo powder to save himself this trek, but he knew he couldn't have stayed in that house a moment longer. He shook himself as though he were a dog, trying to rid himself of fleas as he tried to shake all of the negativity off him as he approached his best friend's house. A dog… he couldn't help but smile. If only he'd been able to become Padfoot for this journey… it wouldn't have been such an uncomfortable experience on the Underground. But he and his fellow Marauders were lucky enough not to get caught at Hogwarts with their unregistered animagi, so they were even more careful not to test those waters at home.

Finally, the house was in sight, and Sirius felt himself starting to relax as he walked up the worn pathway nestled between neatly trimmed hedges. It couldn't have been more different from the dark house he was leaving behind. Dark in more ways than one, he thought, his lips twisting bitterly as he reached up to use the knocker in the center of the bright red door. Happily for him, James answered the door. He looked glad to see Sirius … but very confused. Sirius couldn't blame him. He'd shown up sort of unexpectedly before but there had usually been some kind of notice involved.

"Come – come in," James said, recovering from his momentary surprise with as much grace as possible.

"Thanks, mate," Sirius said, clapping him on the shoulder as he stepped into the entryway that had always felt more like home than Grimmauld Place. Looking around, he let out another deep breath.

_I'm going to be ok,_ he thought to himself. _I'm with the Potters now. No one back _there_ will even notice I'm gone._

At this last thought, Sirius was horrified to realize there was a lump in his throat. This was ridiculous. He was happy to be out of there. Nothing good could come of staying at his parents' house. He swallowed hard and forced a grin.

"Got something to eat?" he asked James, who nodded agreeably and led the way into the kitchen. His parents were sitting at the table when the boys walked in, and Katherine Potter looked up, smiling when she saw Sirius enter the room.

"Oh, it's good to see you again, dear. James didn't mention you were coming. Would you like to stay the night?"

Sirius nodded, grinning at her, wondering why this smile suddenly hurt. "Thanks, Mrs. Potter. That'd be great." 

There would be time later to tell James what had happened. He could tell his parents. Then they'd all figure out where he'd stay. This was going to work out. It had to.


	2. Chapter 2

Throughout the entire meal, James kept casting furtive glances over at Sirius. Sirius felt each one but ignored them. He knew James would manage to get the whole story out of him, but he figured he needed to build up his strength for a story like this, so he kept shoveling in every bite Mrs. Potter offered him. When the food finally ran out and Mrs. Potter turned away to supervise the dishes cleaning themselves in the sink, James casually said, "Oi, Sirius, want to go practice Quidditch in the yard?"

"Sure," Sirius said slowly, getting to his feet. "Thanks for the food, Mrs. Potter," he said, and she turned, smiling.

"Oh, you're very welcome, dear. See you boys later."

For the first time, James's father looked over his copy of the Daily Prophet.

"You're practicing Quidditch?" he asked with a slight frown. James nodded, and he said quietly, "Ok, but make sure you fly low. We don't want to attract any unnecessary attention." He rattled the newspaper for emphasis and shook his head, going back to the latest article about mysterious disappearances. Sirius suddenly understood why he hadn't said a word since they'd sat down to eat. He was worried and, from living in his own house, he knew he had good reason. Things seemed to be going from bad to worse.

James and Sirius trudged outside, grabbing brooms from the wall as they went. But as Sirius swung his leg awkwardly over his own, silently cursing James for being so good at something in which he, for some inexplicable reason, had VERY little skill, he looked up to see James just staring at him.

"Feel like telling me what the hell's going on?" he asked bluntly.

Sirius let his leg fall back to the ground, almost relieved to tell James what had happened if it meant he wouldn't be forced to make a fool of himself on this broom.

"Yeah," he said, "but it's bad. I'm warning you."

"Ok…" James said slowly, sitting at the picnic table his parents kept outside to maintain the ruse of being muggles. Sirius sat at the other end of the bench and, staring down at his lap, began to talk.

"Well, you know what my brother's been doing, right? I told you?"

James nodded, an expression of disgust flitting across his face.

"Anyone hear from him?" he asked, his voice surprisingly neutral.

"Well, that's the thing," Sirius said slowly, unsure of how the words would sound once they were out of his mouth. "Regulus came home. He … he tried to get me to go with him. When I said I wouldn't, my mother had a fit. You know how she is. She told me I wasn't fit to be her son, which is fine, because I don't belong there anyway. But Regulus… well, I don't know how much he believes in this anymore anyway. He asked me to come, but he seemed pretty content to take no for an answer."

"So… so what's the problem?" James asked, confused.

Sirius finally looked up, and James was unsurprised to see the customary bitter look he adopted whenever he talked about his family.

"What do you think happened? She figured out that Reg isn't so into this anymore, but whose fault would that be? Mine, of course. So… I left. I can't stay there anymore. I don't belong in that family. I _know_ she agrees." He stared down at his lap again.

James didn't bother trying to argue. He just said, "So I guess you'll have to stay here then."

Sirius looked up quickly, and James saw immediately that, even though he'd never admit it, he'd been worried that James wouldn't know he was supposed to say that. But he needn't have worried. There was no other option, and James knew that. He knew his parents would too. He was just afraid of what this might do to Sirius down the line.

"Let's go back inside and talk to my parents," he said with forced cheer, and they walked back inside, dropping the brooms by the door.

The Potters were sitting in the living room reading, and James stuck his head in the doorway.

"Mum? Dad? Can we talk to you about something?"

"Sure, honey," Mrs. Potter said, gesturing for her husband to put down the Daily Prophet, which he did, raising his eyebrows at her.

The boys sat on the couch, facing the two chairs where James's parents sat, waiting.

"Well, the thing is," Sirius started and then stopped. He didn't know why, but the words wouldn't come out this time. Maybe it was because he was unaccustomed to having parents actually listen to him, but the words seemed to stick in his throat, and he looked at James, hoping he'd take the hint without asking why. Fortunately, these two often communicated without words and James smoothly picked up the story, explaining the fight Sirius had with his mother but neglecting to mention all of the details. He didn't need to give any, though. The Black family wasn't exactly anonymous, and the Potters knew it was only a matter of time until Sirius would reach his breaking point. They couldn't turn him away. He stood for everything they believed in, and now he didn't have a home.

"We'll be happy to have you stay with us," Mr. Potter said before his wife could even get the words out, and James, Sirius and Mrs. Potter all looked at him in surprise. He didn't speak much, but when he did, it was because he thought it was important. They all knew this, and the knowledge that he had a place to call home made Sirius swallow hard. James didn't notice, but Mrs. Potter did. She sighed. As much as she knew this boy would pretend he couldn't care less... it was clear that he did.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

James and Sirius spent the rest of that day hanging around the house. Neither of them had much of a desire to go anywhere, and Mr. Potter had made it pretty clear that while nothing was particularly safe at the moment, it would be especially dangerous for Sirius to go out right now. No one could be sure what lengths his family might go to for revenge. He was officially a traitor now, after all, and Mr. Potter worried for his safety though he did it quietly. He didn't want Sirius any more upset than he must already be.

But no one told Sirius he should be upset, mused James, as he watched his friend raking his hand through his hair, laughing at the joke Remus had just told him. They'd sent an owl to him once Sirius had established himself in James's room, and he'd shown up a couple of hours ago. Peter and his parents were off somewhere for the holiday, so it was just the three of them for the day.

Once they'd finished the lunch that James's mother had prepared for them, they traipsed up the stairs to James's room, closing the door behind them.

For a moment, they stared at each other.

"We can't go anywhere, right?" Remus asked James quietly, and he shook his head, trying not to look at Sirius, but his friend flushed.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "This is my fault. If you two have somewhere you want to go…" he trailed off as a pillow hit him full in the face. Startled, he looked at his two friends, who were staring at him in disbelief.

"He's ridiculous," James said to Remus, who nodded his agreement. He turned to Sirius.

"Mate, we're here because we want to hang out _together_. That kind of loses its effect if we _leave_ you…"

Sirius laughed. "Ok, ok. Point taken. Thanks."

Silence fell again, but this time, it was a lot more comfortable. They lounged around the room, kicking around ideas, and then, when nothing occurred to them, they fell back to their default conversation and started talking about Hogwarts.

"We've _got_ to find a better way to get around Filch and Peeves this year," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "Getting caught by them is getting embarrassing already. We've been in this school for five years now. There's got to be a better way than all of us still trying to fit under that invisibility cloak."

The three of them stared at each other, thinking, and then Remus mumbled something the other two missed.

"What?" James asked, and Remus shook his head.

"Never mind. It was a dumb idea."

"What was?" Sirius asked, exasperated. "Will you stop doing that already? Just tell us."

Remus flushed. "Oh, fine. I just said 'a map.' Wouldn't our lives be a lot easier if we just had a map that could tell us where Filch and Peeves were at all times? We'd still use James's cloak, obviously, but we'd know which hallways to avoid."

The other two stared at each other for a minute, grins spreading across their faces.

"You, Moony, are a genius," James breathed. "Let me get out my books. We've got to make this a good one, and even I'll do research for this."

Remus felt a smile spreading across his own face. "Well, now I know I'm a wizard," he said wryly to Sirius. "I got James to do homework on holiday?"

They burst out laughing, but James ignored them as he burrowed in his trunk, digging out his schoolbooks.

The three of them spent the rest of the afternoon working on this map, and from the occasional glances James shot at his best friend, he was glad that Remus had come up with this. It seemed to him that Sirius had entirely forgotten his parents.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: This chapter takes a sadder turn.

Remus left after dinner that night, and Sirius and James settled down to sleep after talking about the map for a little while. They'd just about finished their plan for it, and James couldn't get over how much it would help them all once they went back to school in September. In spite of his excitement, though, he was sound asleep almost instantly, his hair even messier than usual, and Sirius couldn't get comfortable. He glanced over at James as he cautiously made his way over to the window and wondered why he was always able to do that, to fall asleep so quickly. Sirius couldn't sleep. He didn't know why either. It wasn't like he was homesick. That would be ridiculous.

He stared out at the night sky, vaguely trying to remember the astronomy lessons from Hogwarts but quickly giving up the idea. He contented himself with making up his own names for the shapes the stars seemed to form as he stared at them. After a few minutes, though, he got bored and went back to the cot.

He flopped from his side to his back, wondering why he couldn't get comfortable. He was at the Potters now. He was safe and in a place where people accepted him. There should have been nothing preventing him from falling into a sound sleep right now. But he couldn't.

Finally, after changing positions what felt like fourteen times in four minutes, he got out of bed again and this time decided maybe a drink would help. He was happy to find the kitchen empty but had just finished pouring himself a glass of water when he heard footsteps behind him. Whirling around, he was almost happy to see Mrs. Potter. She smiled at him too.

"Having trouble sleeping?" she asked sympathetically. When he nodded, she did too. "I always come down for a drink. Nothing else seems to work."

Sirius smiled at her, but his heart wasn't in it. He didn't know what to say or how to act. It suddenly hit him that he was going to be living here… actually _living_ here… and he couldn't find the words for a chance meeting in the kitchen?

"Does the water usually work?" They were the first words to come to mind, but he was glad something had. He was surprised, though, by the sound of his own voice. It sounded scratchy to his ears, and he could tell from Mrs. Potter's startled expression that she'd heard it too. She tried to pretend she hadn't, though.

Motioning for Sirius to join her at the table, she nodded. "For some reason? Yes. I don't know why, though…"

They lapsed into silence, each drinking the water, and then Mrs. Potter put down her glass firmly and fixed Sirius with a level gaze.

"Do you think maybe now might be the time to tell me the rest of the story about why you left?"

He choked on the water in his mouth and spit it back into the cup. After a moment, he raised his head to look at her.

"She doesn't want me there anymore," he said in a low voice. "She told me I am an embarrassment to the Black name. Not like the name, itself, isn't already an embarrassment to decent people everywhere… oh, and it's my fault my brother's become disenchanted with You-Know-Who… even though Regulus and I never talk."

Her penetrating gaze became too much, and he redirected his eyes to the table. There was a silence, and then Mrs. Potter spoke again.

"Sirius, the Black name isn't an embarrassment to people everywhere. Did you ever stop to think of what people who know you must think of it? You're making a name for yourself, dear. You can disagree with your family, but don't let that affect your opinion of your own worth."

She looked at the top of his head, and he nodded, but he wouldn't look up at her. She sighed.

"This is hard for you," she said simply. "I know that. You don't have to pretend it isn't. It would be hard for anyone, no matter how much he claimed to hate his family. It doesn't mean, though, that you're not doing the right thing. Just because it's right doesn't mean it's easy…"

Sirius nodded again. He couldn't look up. He just couldn't. He felt absolutely ridiculous for it, but he knew that if he did, she'd see the completely babyish tears that had welled up in his eyes. And the worst part was … he had no idea _why_. He had nothing to _cry_ about. In fact, he had every reason to be happy. But he wasn't. And she knew that.

Before he realized what was happening, James's mother got out of her own seat. He assumed she was just bringing her glass to the sink, and she did, but then she came back and put her hands on his shoulders. It was all it took. Fight it though he tried, he felt his shoulders shaking with sobs he could barely repress, and he knew she could feel it too.

"Don't be embarrassed," she said softly. "It's normal to be sad about leaving your family behind."

He nodded, still refusing to turn, to look at her, to let her _see_ what she'd done to him. She squeezed his shoulders, and he heard his own breath, hitching as he tried not to let a sound escape. This was completely absurd. He didn't cry, and he _certainly_ didn't cry over _them_.

But here he was, he realized, crying over them. As the tears finally spilled over, he folded his arms on the table before him and moved forward, putting his face in their protective darkness. Mrs. Potter's hands never left his shoulders, and he sniffled as he finally let go.

After a few minutes, his tears slowed, and he realized that she was sitting beside him again. He sat there, head in his arms, frozen, until she repeated, "Don't be embarrassed."

Slowly, he lifted his head, hoping the darkness of the night would hide the flush he felt creeping up his face. He looked into Mrs. Potter's compassionate gaze and felt his lip tremble again, but he bit it. No. He was done. But he had to be sure of one more thing before he went back to bed.

"You won't tell James, right?" he asked, his voice unsteady, as he made his way to the doorway. He paused slightly to hear her answer, and Mrs. Potter knew how important this was.

"Of course not," she answered immediately, and both of them could sense his immense relief.

"Ok," he said, turning to go, but as he made his way back up the stairs, "thanks" came echoing back down. She smiled sadly. This was only the beginning, she knew, of Sirius's adjustment to his new life. It wasn't going to be easy.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

When Sirius got back into bed, he was careful to turn over so James wouldn't see his face if he happened to wake up (not like there was much of a chance of that happening, he conceded gratefully, suddenly appreciating James's ability to sleep like the dead). What on earth had _happened_ to him down there? One of the things he always prided himself on was making everyone think he really didn't care about his parents… no, he corrected himself. The one thing he always prided himself on was _not caring about his parents._ It had nothing to do with making people think it. It was the truth. So why… why were there _still _tears in his eyes???

He turned over, burying his face in the pillow. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't remember the last time he couldn't seem to stop crying because, well… he didn't think it had ever happened before. He couldn't remember the last time he'd _been_ crying for that matter. This had to be just a temporary lapse, he tried to convince himself, as he unsuccessfully tried to staunch what seemed like a now-endless flow of tears. He let out a deep breath, hoping it would help calm him down, but it caught in his throat, and he realized, almost panicking, that he could feel the sobs rising.

This. Could. Not. Be. Happening. _Why couldn't he control himself_? He was still lying there, his face stuffed into his pillow, when James woke up. Sirius froze. He recognized the sound from years of sharing a dormitory, and he didn't know what to do. He wished desperately and futilely for the hangings that would have hidden his Hogwarts bed, but there was no hope for that right now. And there wasn't much of a chance that his best friend wouldn't notice that something was obviously wrong, but Sirius would have given anything if he didn't. He decided to keep his face in his pillow and hope for the best.

James lay in his own bed, wondering if he should say anything. He knew Sirius thought he'd been asleep this whole time, but he'd woken up when Sirius had left the room, and as soon as he'd come back in, James had heard his uneven breathing and shut his own eyes tight. Knowing his friend as well as he did, he knew Sirius would be humiliated if he knew James was hearing this. James turned over carefully, assuming Sirius would calm down quickly enough and fall asleep. But he didn't. James didn't know what to do.

After a few more minutes of an increasingly tense silence, James finally decided he had to speak. He didn't even know the words were coming out of his mouth until he heard himself saying softly, "Don't worry, mate. It'll get easier."

There was no response, and James cringed. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything after all. He was about to leave the room and give Sirius some time to himself when he heard his choked voice coming from the pillow.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," Sirius mumbled, but James understood every word and felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. Sure, he'd seen Sirius mad about things, but he'd never heard him sound so helpless and sad. This wasn't the Sirius Black he joked around with everyday, but then again, that Sirius Black hadn't just run away from home.

"Maybe," James said slowly, "you just have to get used to this. It _is_ a pretty big change, right?"

There was a longer silence, and James wondered if he were making things worse. He was almost sure he was when Sirius spoke again.

"Yeah," was all he managed to get out. He took a few deep breaths, happy to see that he seemed to be getting his breathing under control. After a few more minutes of silence, where he knew James was racking his brain for something safe to say, he finally rolled over, thankful for the darkness in the room so James couldn't see his face.

"Yeah," he repeated, this time feeling as though the weight on his chest was slightly lighter. "I guess I didn't think about how weird it would be not to hear _anything_ from them. I know if I ever have kids… or, ok, to be more realistic, if _you_ ever have kids and make me the godfather… well, I wouldn't be able to do this to them."

James didn't look at Sirius because he knew it was the last thing he'd want, but he let out a deep breath, happy that he was talking and sounding relatively like himself.

"Of course you wouldn't," James agreed reasonably, "which is why, once I convince Evans that she loves me and ought to marry me, you _will_ be the godfather to our first kid. Hell, you can be godfather to all of our kids."

Sirius almost smiled. "Are you forgetting that Evans hates me _almost_ as much as she hates you?"

"No, she doesn't," James said matter-of-factly. "Or at least she won't. Once she knows she's supposed to be with me, she'll love you too. We're a package deal, Padfoot. Who doesn't know that? You'll even be our best man when we get married."

This time Sirius did smile. He even let out a weak laugh. "You really are delusional, Prongs. But I promise you that if you ever somehow do manage to pull off _this_ magic, I'll be there for all of it."

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, and then Sirius said, sounding a lot calmer, "I'm going to try to sleep now. We'll work on the map tomorrow, right?"

"Definitely," James agreed.

The room was quiet for a minute when Sirius said, so quietly James almost missed it, "Thanks, mate. I don't know… I don't know what I'd do without your family."

"They're your family too," James said simply and then turned over to face the window.

Sirius, too, turned away, tears in his eyes again, but this time they were tears of gratitude. He closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep when one last thing occurred to him.

"You … you won't say anything to Remus or Peter, right?" he asked, and his entire body relaxed when he heard James's sleepy assent. Within moments, both boys were asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: Sorry for the delay here. My brain is all wrapped up in my other story (Still Left Behind), but I knew I owed another chapter over here.

The next morning dawned cool and sunny, and James woke before Sirius. He made his way quietly out of his room, knowing his friend would need the extra sleep given their very interrupted night. He was happy to find his mother alone in the kitchen when he went downstairs.

She turned in time to watch her son slide into his usual seat at the table, and she smiled at him tiredly.

"Morning, honey," she said as she finished supervising the dish washing now taking place at the sink. With the flick of her wand, everything soared into its proper place, and she joined James at the table. "Are you hungry?"

He shook his head, his mouth opening in a huge yawn. "No thanks, Mum. Just tired."

He didn't look at her, but she knew there was something he wasn't saying.

"Did you not sleep well last night?" she asked hesitantly. She knew to tread carefully here because of how intent Sirius had been on keeping their conversation a secret. But when James turned to look at her, she saw the sadness in his eyes, and she knew. He knew.

"Mum, he came back to the room in the middle of the night, and…" he couldn't go on. He didn't know why. But his mother did, and she did the same thing she had done just hours earlier with Sirius and pulled her chair closer to James.

"I know," she said softly. "It's hard to see your best friend going through such a hard time. But I want you to know how proud your father and I are of you. You are behaving exactly the way we'd hope you would. This is hard for Sirius and will be for a while, but I know that having you as his friend can only make this easier."

James nodded slowly. "I know. And thanks for being proud of me. But I just wish there were something I could do to help."

"You _are_ helping," Katherine Potter insisted, putting her arm around her only child. "Just keep being the friend Sirius needs you to be, honey. And I know you know this already, but it's obviously really important to him that no one else knows how hard this is, so just make sure you don't say anything to Remus or Peter."

"Yeah, I know," he mumbled. "He told me that last night."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, and then James pushed his chair back from the table.

"I'm going to go try to think of things we can do to distract him," he said as Katherine gave him a puzzled look. "It'll be better than just sitting around till we go back to school. Is it ok if Remus comes back today?"

"Of course," she said, nodding, as she too rose from the table. "Just let me know if he's going to stay for dinner."

"Thanks," James said as he left the room. He was so lucky. He knew that. He just wished his luck would extend to the boy still asleep in his room. He couldn't imagine that this map would do all that much to make Sirius feel better, but it was worth a shot.

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Remus showed up at the same time he'd gotten to Godric's Hollow the previous day, and the three of them spent the afternoon pouring through books to try to find the right spells with occasional success. Finally, as the sun started to set over the house, Sirius sat back and rubbed his eyes.

"Listen," he told the other two, "we should just stop here. Peter has more books than we do. He gets home in what? Three days? Once he's back, the four of us will get together and finish this. He should be in on it anyway. This _will_ be the Marauder's Map, after all."

Remus nodded his agreement. "Good point, mate," he said, tossing down his quill. "And besides, I could use a break."

James threw down his own quill. "Yeah, so could I. Want to go outside and practice Quidditch? I haven't played in a couple of days."

Sirius and Remus exchanged glances, but they had both seen the look of eagerness on James's face, and they couldn't find it in them to say no, so the three of them trooped downstairs and out into the yard, grabbing brooms as they went.

They flew for over an hour until Sirius pleaded exhaustion. James was exhilarated, but he could see the toll that this practice had taken on his less-than-athletic friends, and he grudgingly joined them on the ground. It was time for dinner anyway, he reasoned, as they walked back into the house.

After they had finished eating, Remus had to leave, but he asked James to help him work the floo powder since he was using the Potters' new brand and not his own. Sirius had gone back to looking over the map, so he waved absently to Remus as he left the room.

The moment James and Remus were alone on the stairs, Remus turned to him.

"He's not doing too well with this, is he," he asked bluntly, but it wasn't a question. James was startled into honesty, and Remus's eyes grew pained.

"Don't say anything to him," James whispered hurriedly. "He wants everyone to think he's fine with it."

"Well, then he needs to put on a better act," Remus muttered, but he acknowledged James's plea with a quick nod of his head. The two didn't speak again until they reached the fireplace, and then Remus said, "If it ever seems like the right time, tell him I noticed?"

James nodded and then watched as his friend stepped into the fireplace. He couldn't imagine when that time would be. After all, Remus still didn't know how much Sirius had noticed of his own anguish before he'd told them about what they had come to call his furry little problem. He wished these two would talk to each other as much as they both talked to him. He couldn't imagine how that would ever happen, though.


End file.
